Can I ask a question about Diana please?

[allmylifewheretheygo]

If Diana was alive now and divorced from Charles, I just wonder what effect it would with a monarch having an ex wife alive and well.

Would Camilla as Queen consort risk being overshadowed by her DH's ex wife?

Also, if Diana remarried what effect would that have on her royal status, would she move out of where she was living at Kensington Palace do you think?

I agree.
I think there's a possibility Diana would have become a bit like Princess Margaret. No longer praised as a great beauty, overshadowed by younger more glamorous members of the Royal family, hanging around with toy boys etc.

On the other hand Harry may have grown up to be a more secure man, still talking to his family and welcome at State events.

But who knows? She may have remarried happily and had more children, or found she could go it alone without a man and led a contented life.

Harry may still have been a restless soul, hitting out at the world and estranged from his family.

She'd have shamed herself and us so badly by now that she'd be living in hiding and no trouble to anyone.

@StopStartStop That is a pretty vile thing to say.

Diana was always better looking than Margaret.
But more importantly she looked after herself better than Margaret. Margaret was a heavy drinker and drug user which destroys your looks.

The role she was able to play, both in influencing fashion and in garnering support for other causes was largely due to the fact she was still young beautiful and glamorous enough to be of interest to the media, rather than down to any particularly compelling aspect of her personality or unique skill set though.
I remember her very well from the time she entered the public arena, and the vast majority of interest in her was always focued on her youth and appearance.
Realistically, beyond that, she was pleasant, charming, and warmer than we were used to in the Royal family, but I'm not convinced she had anything particularly exceptional that would have stood the test of time. I certainly don't recall seeing anything in her that KM doesn't also bring to the table.

KM is very different to Diana. KM is more like the Queen, very different to Diana.

In terms of fashion, it depends. As a woman in my fifties there is a real lack of interesting clothes for older women. I have no idea if she would have, but Diana could have had an interesting role in promoting small British designers for this market.

No, it isn't. I was around at the time, I saw how she behaved, I never bought into the 'Saint Diana' or 'Peoples' Princess' crap. She brought two sons into the world (and she showed she loved them), that's worthy, but the rest, no. She didn't fulfil her role, which was to support the Prince of Wales. Go back and look at it again. Compare her behaviour with that of the current Princess of Wales, and observe the difference. In Diana's defence, she needed mentoring, from the start of her relationship with Charles and throughout, and I don't think she got it. Someone (was it William? Charles?) recently mentioned that Catherine had the benefit of twenty years of advice from the Queen, which is clearly advantageous, but even before her marriage, she and her family were taking their position seriously and not causing unnecessary embarrassment.

There you go, you've had a response to your ridiculous comment. I don't say 'vile' things. Ever.

@StopStartStop she wasn't subservient enough for the RF, ok. But she was loved as a woman in her own right.

@StopStartStop I know the role of the Royal wives are to be quiet, supportive and never ever outshine the men in public. It is like the 1950s.
Diana failed that from the beginning. Her beauty meant even as a quiet and shy 19 year old, the public were far more interested in her than him. All the early footage shows this, including Charles acknowledging the public were only interested in her. She had barely said anything publicly then, so it was based purely on her looks and warmth.

Not many intelligent modern women would be happy to sit back and never outshine their husbands. It is why William found it hard to find someone to marry him. I hope Kate thinks it is worth it.

She didn't fulfil her role, which was to support the Prince of Wales. Go back and look at it again.

I'm fairly sure, after watching pen-gate, Diana indeed wouldn't have put up with his swearing, snapping, and sulks in front of the cameras. And it was Camilla he was rude to, initially. Be buggered if I'd cowtow to a petulant outburst like that either, but oh well. Each to their own. She's obviously used to it by now.

I think she would have sunk into obscurity years ago. She's only been put on a pedestal because of the tragedy of her death.

@Sprogonthetyne No one knows if she would have. But those supporting Charles at the time amongst the public thought she would fade away as soon as they divorced. She hadn't and still had a lot of media coverage. She was also very media savvy.

Your can't compare Kate to Diana, Kate marriage was their own choice, Diana's was basically an arranged marriage.

They met something like 7 times before the wedding? Who in their right mind though that would work or encouraged them to do it?

It's a real shame they turned their nosed up at Camilla in the first place and sent Charles away on tour with the navy.

Camilla turned Charles down.

He went away with the navy for 8 months but hadn't made his intentions clear before he left. She got together with Parker-Bowls while he was away.

What a nasty post! And factually wrong. Even the Queen acknowledged Diana's energy and described her as an exceptional and gifted person. Her former private secretaires have mentioned the self disciplined way Diana set about doing her job in the early years, with very little official guidance. She was also very hard working, discreet and loyal to the RF then too. It was only when she felt her access to her sons was threatened that she decided to speak out publicly (as Charles had done before her).

You also forget that shaking the hands of AIDS patients and highlighting the damage that land mines do, was not seen as very "seemly" back then and she received criticism from the RF for breaking the mould. And Charles's friends called her "a loose cannon" when she was doing solid humanitarian work. It was deeply unfair.

You do know that Charles spent many thousands of pounds employing a hard hitting PR company to rehabilitate the image of Camilla and their tactics involved trashing Diana's image in order to do that? It sounds like half the posters on this thread have swallowed that narrative whole!

Of course Diana was no saint, but she wasn't fond of partying, by all accounts what she enjoyed and wanted most, was to have a fulfilling family life. And of course she grew to become media savvy - wouldn't all of us have wanted to have some input if thousands of incorrect negative stories were written about you in newspapers every day in part backed by the establishment - but when she started out her life in the RF she was a naieve nineteen year old who had, fundamentally, been used very poorly.

He was sent away to get over Camilla. The RF were clear, including PF and QM that Camilla was not suitable. That’s why she married PB.

@IrisVersicolor that's what I kind of thought they were split up by others it definitely wasn't Camilla turning him down.

Very much agree with this. In the months before she died, there was a lot of criticism in the tabloids about her behaviour, including going on several holidays and not seeing her sons. Opinions were definitely turning against her in the press. All this disappeared when she died, and I agree with the previous poster that some of the ‘excessive’ grief shown in the press and by the public was due to guilt, including about the paparazzi hounding her.

The press attacked Diana, then built her up, then attacked her. It was a cycle. The same happens with Kate.

But Diana was still very popular. It is why she was regularly on the cover of magazines. Magazines back then were bought by lots of people regularly.

Or disapproving of her shagging married men (Carling, Hoare), telling the press where she would be popping up next on one of her "mercy missions" or jet setting about with a notorious playboy (also in a relationship) with a serious cocaine habit and a very dubious father (Fayed).

No need for racism. She was busy shooting herself in the foot left, right and centre.

@antelopevalley Yes that was true, the difference with Kate is that she just doesn’t play the game or engage at all

@Dibbledabbledo Kate is protected by the Palace. Once Charles and Diana separated Diana was not protected by the Palace. Instead Charles did an interview where he slagged her off.
If William did that, Kate might answer back as well.

@BMW6 You really dislike Diana don't you. Charles was also as you put it shagging around, including with married women.